Wide gap between designers & denim mills – Mr Dudeja, Denim Club

29 Sep '09

6 min read

Speaking about the popularity of denim in India and the missing links, he said, “Even in the time of recession though there was a severe slump in retail and consumer spending declined drastically, expensive designer jeans remained a bright spot for manufacturers and retailers in US. Buying high quality, trendy items, which would last longer appealed more to sensibility of people who were spending conservatively and at a time when existing businesses were struggling, new designer denim brands have been introduced.

“Denim is already very popular and more than 90 percent of the urban youth in India adorns denims at least 3-4 days in week, however, the denim industry and fashion industry have not built bridges and we have nothing to call our own and the penetration in the rural areas is also happening slowly and gradually and economically priced rugged jeans are the key to making denim more popular in the semi-urban and rural areas. Denim being able to withstand more harsh condition than most other fabrics can easily replace other cotton garments if priced and positioned in the market strategically.

“The Indian Gen-X has an insatiable demand for contemporary, hip and trendy garments. Even today, the Indian denim industry does not have any noticeable Indian designer denim labels as most of the branded denims available in retail market are foreign brands – even though they might be manufactured in India under license arrangements. Product development departments in most of the denim mills are just for the sake of being there and India is way far behind when it comes to denim garment processing and finishing.

“Even though conventionally, Jeans have been the most popular denim garment, it is imperative to recognize the fact that denim is a fabric and with the innovation and advances in manufacturing of denim and the range currently available, other garments such as skirts, shorts dresses, and accessories such as denim caps and bags have a huge potential and offer an untapped market in India.

“Now, with the evolution and rapid growth of the retail sector, which essentially has clothing as its major component, the possibility of a sea change in the overall denim consumption is emerging. The coming years would – for sure – see a lot more than just a pair of jeans in denim apparel, designed and developed within India, for the Indian consumers.

“The need of the hour is to bridge the gap between the designers and the denim mills, to encourage indigenous product development, and showcasing denim by way of private labels highlighting denim as a fabric and to fill the existing void of denim garments and accessories”, he concluded by saying.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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